Jeff Garrant
Maxus Sports & Entertainment
For brands that may have been priced-out of the sports television marketplace in the past, or who are looking to focus on a specific portion of a sport’s audience this new offering is worth a look.
Twitter will live-stream MLB and NHL games. The announcement comes on heels of the social media outlet’s deals with NFL Thursday Night Football, ESPN/Wimbledon and expansion of NBA relationship.
What’s changed?
In addition to deals to stream select full-length games from the NBA and NFL, Twitter has struck a far-reaching deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) in which it will now also stream live, weekly out-of-market games for both MLB and the NHL.
Twitter is also introducing a new, nightly multisport highlights show called “The Rally,” produced exclusively as a collaboration between MLBAM and 120 Sports. The live streaming of “The Rally” will include highlights and expert perspective across multiple sports exclusively to Twitter users in the United States. “The Rally” will utilize a distinct live-format designed to integrate with Twitter’s platform, tapping into Twitter’s live-trending topic-data as well as adding other interactive elements for instant conversation based on what people are talking about the most.
What the change means?
Furthering their mission to be associated with “live”, Twitter has become a media provider of live-sports and sports highlight programming. Now, watching a live event and following the associated social chatter will be available on the same screen.
- The new offering provides brands an opportunity to advertise to a global audience in live MLB games (NHL and NFL broadcasts are available in the U.S. only at this point). The interest in baseball in the burgeoning APAC countries (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc.) makes this an attractive and viable sports consideration for global brands with an APAC emphasis.
- With “The Rally,” both Twitter and the leagues are hoping to attract and engage millennial audiences. “The Rally” is built around social engagement and lives on a platform with that 18-34 skew.
- Insiders at MLBAM and Twitter predict “The Rally” and the first MLB games will be available in September with NHL games likely being available at the start of the 2016-17 season in October. Packages will be offered to official partners of the leagues initially, and then to the open market as inventory remains available.
Overall, the sports, entertainment and digital industries are closely watching the success of these initiatives – as they will go a long way in determining the feasibility of digital companies becoming viable options in bidding for sports rights down the road.
Implications for advertisers?
- Twitter provides an alternative for reaching fans through live-sports, the most in-demand live programming in any medium. While in-game advertising will steal the headlines, “The Rally” is also an exciting program opportunity.
- The potential for programmatic advertising, the draw of a younger, global audience and the potential to integrate a brand not only into the broadcast itself, but into the social conversation around the event in real-time, could be attractive to brands.
What’s next?
Traditional sports advertisers may examine these types of offerings to compliment to their traditional media efforts. For brands that may have been priced-out of the sports television marketplace in the past, or who are looking to focus on a specific portion of a sport’s audience this new offering is worth a look.
For questions contact Jeff Garrant, Maxus Sports & Entertainment ([email protected]).
